By, Jacqueline Dobrei
April 22nd is Earth Day! A day where we can celebrate all that Mother Nature provides for us and shed light on the ways that we can give back and help protect the Earth. Here at Lit Rituals, our products are made with naturally sourced and organic ingredients. If it wasn’t for the Earth, our business wouldn’t exist! We also take extra care to make sure that we create and distribute our products in a sustainable manner.
April 22nd was not always known as Earth Day. This day only became relevant in 1970 with the beginning of the modern environmental sustainability movement. It was formed alongside the anti-war movement and fueled by the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 (an environmental scientist’s commentary on the state of the natural world and the future it is jeopardizing), but Earth Day truly began when Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson wanted to do more to bring attention to nature’s plight after the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969. It started as a student movement, and then grew to a national (and eventually global!) level. This movement gained support from people all over the country, causing a slew of environmental protection bills to be made into laws, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. But this does not mean that the movement has served its purpose; there is still much more improvement to be made until sustainability is reached.
Even now, you may be wondering what exactly sustainability is. According to the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainability is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Basically, what this means is that the world is run and necessities are produced in a way that does not jeopardize the amount of resources available in the future. We should not be taking at a rate that is faster than the Earth can replenish itself. The resources on Earth are finite, and we take almost all of them for granted. If we continue on like this, overconsuming fossil fuels and similar non-renewable resources, we may find that one day there is nothing left.
This Earth Day, try to think about ways that you can try and lessen your negative impact on the Earth. Some simple ways to help are: air drying your clothes instead of putting them in the dryer, making sure to only run the washer and dishwasher when they are full, walking/biking/using public transportation/carpooling instead of driving a personal vehicle, compost your leftover food waste, and shopping at sustainable/ethical businesses.
With all of this being said, it is important to remember that protecting the Earth is an endeavor that encompasses more than just one day of the year. If everyone lives sustainably and is mindful of the effect they have on the Earth for one day but then goes back to not caring or thinking about it for the rest of the year, all of that work will be for nothing. It needs to be a daily contribution that you make. Even if it is just baby steps like being careful not to litter, if you turn sustainability into a habit, it can lead to a better future.